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Margaret Bourne

Matriarch, veteran, teacher, nurse. Born on June 22, 1911, in Rothesay, N.B.; died on April 23, 2014, in Rothesay, aged 102.

Margaret was a descendant of Thomas Fairweather, a United Empire Loyalist who landed at Saint John Harbour in 1783. Her grandfather, A.C. Fairweather, purchased a house and farm called Firshade in the early 1880s. This family home was a central anchor for Margaret throughout her lifetime.

One of her earliest memories was the burning in effigy of Kaiser Wilhelm II during the First World War, on Spyglass Hill in her home town, Rothesay. After graduating as class valedictorian, she earned a bachelor of arts from King's College, Halifax. This was the education required for her first job, as a teacher, at her alma mater, Rothesay Netherwood School.

However, Margaret's ambition led her to search for the next adventure and she went to Montreal to become a nurse. By age 28, she was a ward head nurse at the Montreal General Hospital, Western division. During her years at "the Western," she met a doctor, and an Olympic medalist in swimming, Munroe Bourne.

Meanwhile, Hitler was on the rise and the world was again in conflict. Margaret fought for freedom, in England, as a lieutenant nursing sister in the No. 14 Canadian General Hospital unit. Munroe was stationed with the same company and, on Jan. 30, 1943, they married in a country church in Horley, England. When they returned home they settled in Westmount, Que., and raised three children, Robert, Richard and Mary.

Margaret had the skill, intelligence, and organizational ability to be a successful CEO, entrepreneur, lawyer or physician. But she chose the traditional path for women in the 1950s and '60s, supporting her husband and nurturing her family. The dining room and spare bedrooms were often filled with students and young adults who blossomed under Margaret's mentoring. She led gently, with love and by example.

Volunteering was a way of life for her. In Montreal, she was a "choir mother" at Trinity Memorial Church, and a member of auxiliaries at the church and at Montreal General and Reddy Memorial hospitals.

In 1983, the couple retired to Firshade, her ancestral home in Rothesay, where she remained active in the community. She was the keynote speaker at Netherwood's 100th anniversary graduation – 66 years after delivering her valedictory address. At age 95, she co-chaired the women's committee at the Anglican church and was a member of groups such as the local Historical Society and the Rothesay Garden Club. With great care, she tended the gardens at Firshade, paying particular attention to the peonies that had been blooming since she was born.

After Munroe died in 1992, she continued to live at Firshade. She loved her three children, nine grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren unconditionally. When she was jokingly asked who was her favourite, her answer was always, "My favourite is the one who needs me most."

By age 102, faculties and strength are bound to diminish. Two days before she died, she was told that it was remarkable that she never complained. She smiled, and replied: "I have lived a very privileged life. I have a wonderful family. And I am living at Firshade. Why would I ever complain?"

Richard Bourne is Margaret's son.

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